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Harbinger Star Dreadnaught
= : "With the ''Harbinger under my command, We will be the ultimate power in the galaxy!''" :―Admiral Kendav Ozzenam, upon receiving the very first production Harbinger. : The Harbinger-class Star Dreadnought, colloquially known as the Harbinger-class Super Battleship or Harbinger-class Titan, was a heavy warship class in the Star Dreadnought league, often used as command ships and flagships in the Vetaron Navy. At the present, they are among the largest vessels in the galaxy, outsizing the Ares Battleship and Purgatorio Dreadnaughts, and were almost invincible in combat, although they were costly to operate. = = Dimensions The Harbinger-class measures 5 kilometers in length, is approximately five times larger and more destructive than any Capital Ship class in the Confederate Navy, and is 20 times more massive than the ubiquitous Vieques-Class Super carrier. 8,734 Vetaron Navy officers, gunners and enlisted men are said to crew each vessel. Though several variants of the Harbinger-class exist, all followed similar design-attributes in terms of structure. Propulsion systems The Harbinger-class is built with one main reactor and an unknown number of secondary reactors. Thirteen Kadesh-50.x engines placed in five thruster banks gave the Harbinger-class impressive acceleration for its size. The main reactor is accessible through various service tubes. A majority of gun batteries and missile launchers were located in the central plateau on the class's dorsal side, while some point-defense guns were located throughout the side-trenches. On at least one ship, many heavy batteries were sacrificed for an increased number of anti-starfighter cannons. Despite it's impressive firepower, the design was far from perfect, as the ventral side and the aft were relatively undefended, and Harbinger-class SSDs require an impressive starfighter defensive screen to chase off enemy starfighters and marauding smaller corvettes who otherwise could remain in the main weaponery blind spots. Its shields handle much of the power generated—an amount equivalent to the total power of a Brown Dwarf (3.845 × 10 7W). Shield-projectors are placed throughout the hull, which decentralized the protection system and decrease the chance of all shields falling at once. Known shield segments include the dorsal, ventral, bow, aft, port and starboard shields. In later-model ships, an extra shield generator was mounted in the middle of the ship. In addition to the shield generators, several Harbingers had Psionic Devestator silos and stealth-armor fitted to the vessel, in order to perform sneak attacks on enemy targets. The tactic echoed the days of earlier "Boomer" type submersibles ubiquitous to 20th century Terran history. The geodesic domes located on and around the Harbinger's bridge tower (similar to those of Asteraeus-class Destroyers) served dual purposes. Inside the dome were hyperwave transceiver coils for supralight active sensors, while vanes jutting out of the dome served as shield projectors for the surrounding area. There were many such geodesic domes scattered around the ship. These domes were not vulnerable to external attack as long as the shields remained intact, but concentrated capital ship bombardment could knock out this protective field. The sensors and shield projectors thus became vulnerable to attack, as demonstrated by Illidrian starfighter pilots. Complement A minimum of 144 starfighters were carried onboard Harbinger-class vessels; but the massive hangars could hold thousands. In addition to fighters, the Harbinger-class also carried a large number of landing craft, dropships, ground armor and two prefabricated garrison bases. At least three hangar bays were located on the portside, several underneath the vessel and multi-level fighter bays deep inside the main superstructure. The class had an internal Beltway cargo handling system. The internal freight shaft went from the stern to the prow of the battleship, equipped with a tracked hauler that could carry large loads throughout the vessel. In terms of detention facilities, these Titans possessed three detention blocks that were used for crew discipline alone. In addition, they held five additional high-security blocks that were used for enemy prisoners. Furthermore, they contained three cargo areas that were designed for the secure transport of large quantities of troops, refugees or even prisoners of war. Adjacent to the large landing bays used by the bulk shuttles were holding areas that were equipped with only minimal facilities in terms of water taps, ventilation and food dispensers. These regions of the ship were considered adequate for up to a few hundred people. Bridge The bridge tower was almost a starship in itself and was a standard module on many different Confederate warship classes. It was equipped with heavy shielding to compensate for its highly visible location, and contained mess halls, special quarters for officers of high rank, and large escape pods. The admiral aboard the vessel even had his own escape pod, directly above the command bridge and next to admiral's suites. The command tower also had its own power generators, relays, and life-support systems. It was connected to the ship's main reactor by a cluster of power feeds. The bridge of the Harbinger had the same basic layout as standard Confederate capital ships, although larger. The outer-most part featured nine triangular viewports. The center contained two crewpits which housed the control consoles for the ship. Between them was the command walkway. To the right and left sides of the bridge were two alcoves containing the weapons and defense stations. Behind the bridge were the communications stations, a turbolift, and a FTL communications pod for ship-to-ship communications. On the level directly beneath the bridge was the main navigation complex. Additional tower-structures were located throughout the ships main superstructure, including a forward structure similar in design to the Vieques Class Supercarrier's command tower. Vetaron Service The Harbinger went on to become the most feared and famous of its class by virtue of its status as Battlefleet Australis' command ship. However, the vessel was disabled at the Battle of Ravenaux in 2133 , after an Illidrian Capital ship, the Amber Dawn, rammed through its hull. During the early months of the Illidrian/Vetaron War, several other Harbinger-class ships were fielded. At the end of the war in 2140, other Harbingers were noted as well. The Centurion was tasked with protecting Vekta (the new capital after the loss of Vetar), the Annihilator served in close vicinity to Firenze, the Reaper led Los Diablos battlegroup on its patrols in the Outer Rim and the Brawl was given to Admiral Zedan by High command for meritous service.45 Currently, production on Harbinger-class Star Dreadnaughts and other Super Star Destroyers have been accelerated in a display of the Confederacy's wealth and power. After the fragmentation of the Illidrian Empire, Harbinger-class Star Dreadnaughts were popular acquisitions amongst commanders hoping to improve their military power and prestige. Behind the scenes (Mr. Blunt3d) I had concieved the Harbinger long before Mass Effect 2 came out, so if someone even thinks about ASSUMING DIRECT CONTROL, I will beat you over the head with a Rotten trout. With that being said, the major influences were obviously the Eclipse and Executor SSD from the Star Wars franchise.